20 New Coffee Table Books for the Design Lovers on Your List
What better gift for the design mavens on your holiday list than a statement-making book of gorgeous interiors, architecture or gardens? Not only do their pages provide endless inspiration, but they’re also de rigueur for any well-styled coffee table or bookshelf. We’ve rounded up 20 tomes released this year that are sure to impress and delight. Happy holiday shopping!
For Would-Be Interior Designers and Looky-Loos
1. Inside: At Home with Great Designers (Phaidon, $54.95)
Between the vibrant covers of this new coffee table book, the Phaidon editors open the doors to 60 stylish apartments, coastal retreats, palazzi and other homes inhabited by a slew of leading international interior designers, including Brigette Romanek, Roman and Williams, Sheila Bridges and Darryl Carter.
2. At Home With Designers and Tastemakers: Creating Beautiful and Personal Interiors, by Susanna Salk and Stacey Bewkes (Rizzoli, $50)
Susanna Salk and Stacey Bewkes, co-creators of the “Quintessence at Home With” YouTube series, give readers a peek inside 15 homes lived in by designers and other creatives while offering lessons for navigating design challenges and limited budgets. Featured homes include the Connecticut weekend retreat of textile designer John Robshaw and the West Hollywood bungalow of chef Lulu Powers.
3. AphroChic: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family Home, by Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason (Clarkson Potter, $35)
Showcasing the homes of notable Black Americans working in a variety of industries, including chef Alexander Smalls and actor Danielle Brooks, AphroChic is in part a cultural study of the obstacles to homeownership that Black Americans have faced for generations. But it’s primarily a celebration of those family homes, which are filled with color, heirlooms and joy.
4. The Designer Within: A Professional Guide to a Well-Styled Home, by John McClain (Gibbs Smith, $45)
Nationally renowned, Best of Houzz-winning designer John McClain goes beyond showing off his own home and other polished, luxurious designs, which incorporate a variety of styles. He walks the reader through his interior design process as he deconstructs each project, imparting professional insights, helpful design and styling tips and personal anecdotes along the way.
For Collectors and Curators
5. How to Live With Objects, by Monica Khemsurov and Jill Singer (Clarkson Potter, $60)
This self-described “anti-decorating book” from Sight Unseen editors Monica Khemsurov and Jill Singer offers pointers for collecting and styling vintage, contemporary, handmade and sentimental objects to make your house a home. Of course, there’s modern design inspiration and eye candy too, in the form of photographic home tours and anecdotes about favorite objects from creatives such as Athena Calderone and Lykke Li.
6. 1,000 Design Classics (Phaidon, $89.95)
A reference book for design aficionados, this encyclopedia-like volume features 1,000 iconic and innovative products from giants like Le Corbusier as well as newcomers like Lindsey Adelman, each accompanied by images and detailed descriptions of the item and its maker.
7. The New Naturalists: Inside the Homes of Creative Collectors, by Claire Bingham (Thames & Hudson, $40)
The homes featured in Claire Bingham’s look at 20 creative contemporary collectors evoke cabinets of curiosities, shell-encrusted grottoes and chic natural history museums, each celebrating the beauty of the natural world. Fellow magpies will especially appreciate the book’s directories of sources, shops and inspirational locales.
8. Vibrant Interiors: Living Large at Home, by Andrea Schumacher (Gibbs Smith, $45)
Denver and Santa Barbara, California-based interior designer Andrea Schumacher‘s colorful, energetic designs are favorites of Houzz readers. Filled with beautiful photography, her new monograph showcases the best of them alongside advice and insights into her process.
9. Ken Fulk: The Movie in My Mind (Assouline, $95)
International interior design superstar Ken Fulk imbues all of his residential and hospitality projects with glamour and cinematic flair, whether it’s a Napa Valley farmhouse, a Manhattan club or a superyacht. All of these and more enjoy the limelight in his new book with Assouline, a maximalist’s dream with 250 photos and a foreword by Ronan Farrow.
A Minimalist’s Guide to Maximalism
10. Wonderland: Adventures in Decorating, by Summer Thornton (Rizzoli, $45)
Encouraging her readers to embrace romance, interior designer Summer Thornton writes in her new book, “When you combine that soft, dreamy side of your personality with pure fearlessness, the result is untamed beauty.” The included projects illustrate the power of that approach, showcasing her more-is-more, down-the-rabbit-hole designs.
For Traditionalists
11. Suzanne Kasler: Edited Style (Rizzoli, $57.50)
Elegant traditional interiors that combine contemporary furnishings with antiques are Atlanta-based designer Suzanne Kasler’s specialty, and this new book is chock-full of them, starting with her own Regency-style home. Though known for her predominantly white interiors, this collection proves she’s a master of judicious splashes of color too.
12. Extraordinary Interiors,
by Suzanne Tucker (Monacelli, a Phaidon Company, $60)
Another acclaimed Suzanne — Suzanne Tucker of San Francisco-based Tucker & Marks — presents a selection of her recent work in her third monograph. Readers will go on a tour of timeless art- and antiques-filled homes that are tailored to their owners as well as their geographic and architectural surroundings, from a Manhattan apartment to Tucker’s own home in Montecito, California.
For Small(er)-Living Enthusiasts
13. Bigger Than Tiny: Smaller Than Average, by Sheri Koones (Gibbs Smith, $35)
Proponents of “right-size” homes, whether for economic, social or environmental reasons, can take inspiration from the 26 newly built homes, remodels and ADUs included in this instructive and attractive new book. And with floor plans and detailed breakdowns of each project’s “green” features and systems, the book also gives readers a leg up on building one of their own.
14. For Armchair Travelers
Rocky Mountain Modern: Contemporary Alpine Homes, by John Gendall (Monacelli, a Phaidon Company, $50)
The captivating, often awe-inspiring pairing of rugged mountain landscapes and clean-lined modern architecture is the subject of this collection. In addition to outlining the origins and evolution of modernism in the Rocky Mountain region, it includes more than 200 photographs of alpine homes — including a cattle ranch and a ski-in, ski-out neighborhood — from New Mexico to British Columbia.
15. Homes for Our Time: Contemporary Houses Around the World, Volume 2, by Philip Jodidio (Taschen, $80)
From modest dwellings to mansions, the private residences in Homes for Our Time (the second in a series) represent a new focus on diversity and sustainability in contemporary architecture. The book includes photos, architectural plans and descriptions of more than 60 private homes from Vietnam, South Africa, India, China and elsewhere, designed by a diverse group of men, women and collectives (versus the “starchitects” one might expect in a volume this weighty).
16. Living in the Forest (Phaidon, $49.95)
The 50 international, architect-designed forest homes in this beautifully photographed, wanderlust-inspiring book (part of Phaidon’s Living In … series) include a pair of Norwegian tree houses, a tree-covered building in the middle of Bangkok and a sleek, energy-efficient residence in California. While diverse in location, size and style, they all emphasize the importance of connection with, and protection of, the natural world.
17. For Fashionistas
Yves Saint Laurent at Home: Life With Yves and Pierre (Assouline, $95)
Legendary fashion designer Yves Saint Laurent and Pierre Bergé lived and worked in exquisite, art-filled spaces around the world. Their frequent collaborator, interior designer Jacques Grange, wrote the text of this equally opulent new book (available in December) profiling five of them, including the interiors and gardens of homes and gardens in France and Morocco.
For Gardeners
18. Wild: The Naturalistic Garden, by Noel Kingsbury and Claire Takacs (Phaidon, $59.95)
This book is a must-have for anyone interested in sustainable, innovative garden design. Images by award-winning horticultural photographer Claire Takacs capture more than 40 naturalistic public and private gardens around the world, including those by leading designers such as Sean Hogan, Piet Oudolf and Dan Pearson, and are accompanied by detailed captions and a directory of key plants.
19. Lotusland (Rizzoli, $60)
In 200 images, photographer Lisa Romerein captures why the public garden in Montecito, California — comprising 37 acres of dramatic and whimsical spaces filled with an extraordinary collection of exotic flora — is widely considered to be among the best botanical gardens in the world.
Get a Head Start on Planning Your Garden Even if It’s Snowing
20. American Roots: Lessons and Inspiration From the Designers Reimagining Our Home Gardens, by Nick McCullough, Allison McCullough and Teresa Woodard (Timber Press, $40)
Landscape designers, a YouTube star and other creatives from every region of the country share their home gardens and design inspiration in this new release. Coastal landscape designs, modern urban spaces and naturalistic meadows are among the featured projects, which illustrate the diversity of America’s gardens as well as of those who tend them.